Process for the reactivation of platinum-on-alumina catalysts

ABSTRACT

A process for reactivating or regenerating a catalyst of the platinum-on-alumina type, comprising the steps of: A. MAINTAINING THE CATALYST IN A REDUCING MEDIUM, PREFERABLY CONTAINING HYDROGEN GAS, AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 400* C and 600* C, for a period of substantially 2 to 8 hours in a velocity of gas flow of 1 X 10 2 to 1 X 10 1 m3 of gas per hour and per kg of catalyst; B. HALOGENATING THE CATALYST THEREAFTER IN A REDUCING GAS MEDIUM AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 400* C and 550* C with a gas-flow rate of 1 X 10 2 to 4 X 10 1 m3 of gas per hour per kg of catalyst using a halogenated organic compound with one to six carbon atoms per molecule and an atomic ratio of halogen:hydrogen no greater than unity and a partial pressure of this compound between 1 and 100 mm Hg for a period of one-half to 10 hours and in the presence of a moisture content of 10 to 50 ppm to bring the halogen content of the catalyst to 0.1 to 1 percent by weight; and C. OXIDIZING THE CATALYST TREATED IN STEP (B) WITH OXYGENCONTAINING GAS OF AN OXYGEN CONCENTRATION INCREASED FROM 0.2 TO ATMOSPHERE CONCENTRATIONS OVER A PERIOD OF 5 TO 15 HOURS AT A TEMPERATURE OF 400* TO 600* C and with a gas-flow velocity of 0.5 to 5 m3 per hour per kg of catalyst.

United States Patent Georgescu et al.

[ June 27, 1972 CATALYSTS:

731 Assignee:

[22] Filed:

Inventors:

Titeiului,

Appl. No.:

us. 01 1111. (:1. 1 16111 61 Search .252/415, 419, 416, 441;

Eugenia Georgescu; Ion Ion Ghejan; Victor Bugur; Ion Zirna; Theodora Mazare; Elena-Lygia Popescu; Bujor Olteanu; Nicolae Marculescu; Traian-Mircea Filotti; Marius-Aurel Barbul; lon Calin, all of Ploiesti, Romania Iustitutul De Cercetari Peutru Prelucrarea Ploiesti-Boulv., Republicii, Romania, Ploiesti, Romania April 1, 1970 Romania ..59667 ..B0lj 11/18, BOlj 11/02 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,785,138 3/1957 Milliken, Jr ..252/415 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 789,791 l/l958 Great Britain ..208/140 Primary Examiner-Daniel E. Wyman Assistant Examiner-P. E. Konopka Attorney-Karl F. Ross [57] ABSTRACT A process for reactivating or regenerating a catalyst of the platinum-on-alumina type, comprising the steps of:

a. maintaining the catalyst in a reducing medium, preferably containing hydrogen gas, at a temperature between 400 C and 600 C, for a period of substantially 2 to 8 hours in a velocity of gas flow of 1X10' to 1X10 m of gas per hour and per kg of catalyst;

b. halogenating the catalyst thereafter in a reducing gas medium at a temperature between 400 C and 550 C with a gasflow rate of 1X10: to 4X10 m of gas per hour per kg of catalyst using a halogenated organic compound with one to six carbon atoms per molecule and an atomic ratio of halogenzhydrogen no greater than unity and a partial pressure of this compound between 1 and 100 mm Hg for a period of one-half to 10 hours and in the presence of a moisture content of 10 to 50 ppm to bring the halogen content of the catalyst to 0.1 to 1 percent by weight; and

c. oxidizing the catalyst treated in step (b) with oxygen-containing gas of an oxygen concentration increased from 0.2 to atmosphere concentrations over a period of 5 to 15 hours at a temperature of 400 to 600 C and with a gas-flow velocity of 0.5 to 5 m per hour per kg of catalyst.

3 Claims, No Drawings 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a precess for reactivating used platinum-on-alumina catalysts, in order to restore their activity and prolong their life.

2. Background of the Invention The coke deposits on the catalysts containing a metal of Group VIII of the Periodical System deposited on a refractory support, such as alumina, are usually removed by applying oxidizing treatments. Sometimes, the oxidizing treatment becomes insufiicient for restoring the activity of the catalsts, and a special reactivation treatment is used.

Thus, a series of processes for the reactivation of catalysts by the aid of halogenating treatments is known.

The treatments with various halogenated compounds are used to a great extent, and applied periodically, for regenerating of the catalysts by adding the halogenated compounds to the feed stock, and also after regeneration; the compound thus may also be added to the feedstock continuously during the normal utilization of the catalyst. The periodical treatment of the catalyst is hence made with halogenated organic compounds by injecting them into the feedstock until the desired level of halogen is attained, and in order to maintain this level in the catalyst, halogenated compounds are injected also during the normal operation cycle. Some literature references recommend only this latter technique.

These processes have the disadvantage of maintaining the acidity characteristics of the catalyst only, without having the possibility of a redistribution of the platinum. Along the same line are also the methods that recommend the treatment with hydrochloric acid in a reducing medium, respectively in hydrogen. Since these treatments do not imply an oxidizing treatment step, there is not achieved a redistribution of the platinum on the catalyst surface and in consequence, the activity increase is limited.

Another important drawback of these methods is the fact that the added halogen is not entirely fixed on the catalyst, the excess being carried along in the recirculating gases. In this manner, the corrosion both of the equipment of the plants and of equipment coupled with the latter occurs. In such a situation are hydrofining plants which receive hydrogen rich gases from the reforming plants. In this case, measures have to be taken to prevent these drawbacks.

It has also been proposed to reactuate the catalyst by treatments with gaseous chlorine or compounds thereof, in an oxidizing medium; some of these methods recommend moreover the concomitant use of water vapors. Some of these methods involve significant difficulties in carrying out of the process, since work is done with gaseous chlorine; furthermore, the chlorination unassociated with the alternation of reducing and oxidizing media leads to limited results regarding the general effect of the reactivation processes.

Methods are also known, that recommend the regenerationreactivation of catalysts by alternate reducing and oxidizing treatments, without halogen addition. By these treatments, only a slight improvement in the activity of the catalysts is obtained, since a low conversion of platinum metal into oxidized platinum occurs. As halogen is not added, the restoring of the catalyst acidity is not obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The process according to the invention eliminates the above-mentioned disadvantages, in that, in order to restore the activity and to prolong the life of the partially or entirely deactivated catalysts by re-establishing the halogen content, by redistributing platinum and by reducing the amount of metallic impurities, a sequence of treatments in the gaseous phase is applied to said catalysts, either before or after regeneration, in situ or outside the plant, said treatments'consisting in maintaining the catalyst in a reducing medium, preferably hydrogen, at atmospheric pressure, for 2 to 8 hours, at temperatures between 400 and 600 C, with a velocity of gas fiow in the range of 1X10 to 1X10 m of gas/hour.kg of catalyst (STP Standard Temperature and Pressure) and a moisture content of the gas of from 10 to 50 ppm, (parts per million) the catalyst being subsequently halogenated in a reducing medium, preferably in hydrogen, at

atmospheric pressure at temperatures between 400 and 550 C, with a rate of gas flow of 1X10 to 4X10 m of gas/hour. kg of catalyst, (STP) by passing over the catalyst a halogenated organic compound, preferably an alkane chloride containing one to six carbon atoms per molecule and having an atomic ratio of halogen: hydrogen s l, with a partial vapor pressure of the halogenated organic compound between 1 and mm Hg, for one-half to 10 hours and at a moisture content of from 10 to 50 ppm, in such a manner sufficient to raise the halogen content of the catalyst to 0.1 to 1 percent by weight, preferably between 0.4 and 0.7 percent by weight; after purging with an inert gas, the catalyst is submitted to an oxidizing treatment in the gaseous phase, employing oxygen diluted SPECIFIC EXAMPLES The application of the process according to the invention is illustrated in the following four example.

EXAMPLE 1 A platinum on active alumina catalyst A, partially deactivated by experimenting under industrial conditions by passing over it approximately 20 m of feed stock/kg of catalyst, was submitted to the reactivation process.

The used and regenerated catalyst was treated with hydrogen in the followinG way: The temperature was raised at C per hour up to 480 C and maintained for 8 hours at this temperature, with a velocity of hydrogen flow of 9X10 m hour.kg of catalyst (STP), and a partial pressure of dichloroethane was maintained at 50 mm Hg for 70 minutes, after which the dichloroethane feed was interrupted, and the catalyst was maintained under the same conditions of temperature and hydrogen rate of flow for 60 minutes more. Subsequent to cooling in a hydrogen stream and purging with nitrogen, the chlorinated catalyst was oxidized with air, with a velocity of air flow of 1.8 m lhounkg of catalyst, (STP) for 8 hours at 450 C, the temperature being raised at 1 50 C/hour. h9saia yy22q9 s in anair t sa n-r After the reactivation treatment, the catalyst was tested to determine its activity. I V

The experiments of reforming for the determination of the activity of the fresh, deactivated and reactivated catalyst A were carried out under the following conditions pressure 40 atm, volumetric rate of flow 2 vollvol.hour, recycle ratio H,:feedstock 12:1, and at two temperature levels: 490 and TABLE 1 [Characteristics of the activity of catalyst A: fresh, used and reactivated] RON (without Aromatics plus Yield in depentaethylation) olefins, percent nized products,

by vol. percent by weight Catalyst 490 0. 500 C. 490 C. 500 0. 490 C. 500 C Fresh 90 96. 8 61. 2 69. 3 S5. 80. 9 Se 75 80 44. 5 46. 5 90. 5 89. 2 Reactivated- 94 98 66. 7 73. 0 81. 76. 2

Furthermore, for the appreciation of the degree of redispersion of platinum on the catalyst, the proportion of soluble TABLE 2 The content of impurities of catalyst A, partially deactivated and reactivated, was also determined. In Table 5, the diminishing of the content of impurities as a consequence of the reactivation process is stated.

TABLE 5 [Content of impurities of catalyst A] Impurities, percent by wt.

[Chemical and activity characteristics] Catalyst A NazO Fe Pb Cu Mt:

Used and regener ed O. 0166 1.3-10 6.4'10- 4. l0 4. L10 Reactivatetl 0. 0148 0. 22- 10 5X10 2. 1i) 3. l0"

EXAMPLE 3 Catalyst B, deactivated by industrial operation after the processing of approx. m feedstock/kg of catalyst and regenerated, was subjected to reactivation. The reactivation was effected under the conditions of Example 1, maintaining the partial pressure of dichloroethane vapors at 33 mm Hg for n0 dehydrocyclization activity Chlorine Platinum Selectivity Sclcc- Seleccontent, content, Soluble Dc A.R.X10 toluene, tivity tivity percent percent Pt cont, moles nC /sec., percent i-C7, C -C Catalyst A by wt. by wt. percent g. percent percent Fresh 0. 78 0. 37 49. 6 5. 3 12. 8 66. 8 13. 4 Used and regenerated. 0. 18 0.37 0 1. 5 0 64. 5 15. 5 Reactivated 0. 62 0- 37 20. 9 4. 0 22. 3 58. 3 11. 4

The diflerence up to 100% represents C -C hydrocarbons.

- Another improvement over the used catalyst was the reduction of impurities content. The impurities content with the fresh, used, and reactivated catalyst is shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 [The content of impurities in catalyst A] Content of impurities, percent by wt.

Catalyst N810 Fe Pb Cu Mg Fresh .0. 012 1. 540- Absent 10" 1-10- Used- 0. 0135 1. 8-10 6. 7-10- 7. 4- l0- 4. 440* Reactivated. 0. 0105 0. 6840- 0. 3540' 0. 26-10- 2. 2-10- EXAMPLE 2 TABLE 4 minutes. To appreciate its activity, the used and the reactivated catalyst were tested under the conditions mentioned in Example 1. (Table 6) TABLE 6 [The activity of the used and regenerated catalyst B after rcactivntimil Yield in depcn Aromatics plus tanized product, RON (without olefins, percent percent by cthylation) by vol. Weight 490 500 490 500 490 506 Catalyst B C. C. C. C. C.

Used and regenera 83. 7 88. 7 52 58. 5 84 80 Reactivated 91 93 61 64 81 76. 6

In this example, as feedstock a hydrofined gasoline cut was used, having distillation range to C, RON 46, and containing 14.0 percent by vol. aromatics and 22.0 percent by vol.naphthenes.

The chlorine content, the soluble platinum content and the dehydrocyclization activity were also determined; the respective data are shown in Table 7.

[Chemical and activity characteristics of catalyst A] n-C dehydrocycllzation activity Chlorine content Proportion Dc A.R. X10 Selectivity Selectivity Selectivity percent of sol. pt., moles nC toluene, i-C per- C -C4, Catalyst A by wt. percent sec., g. percent cent percent Used and regenerated 0. 26 Absent 1. 3 17. 5 64. 8 12. 1 Reactivated 0. 67 43 6. 84 28. 6 43. 0 16. 6

The diminishing of the content of impurities after reactivation is shown in Table 8.

TABLE 7 [Chemical and activity characteristics of catalyst B] Dehydrocyclization activity Chlorine Proportion Selec- Selec- Seleccontent, Ptncont of soluble Dc A.R.X tivity tivity tivity percent percent Pt., percent moles n-C toluene, i-C 0 -0 by wt. by wt. by wt. sec., g. percent Percent percent Catalyst B 1 2 3 4 5 s 1 Used and regenerated. 0. 086 0. 339 0 3. 9 9. 5 78.8 6. 9 Reactivated 0. 47 O. 339 23. 6 4. 3 19. 0 49. 6 17. 5

EXAMPLE 4 composition of the feedstock and the time of use of the The deactivated and not regenerated catalyst B (presented in Example 3 coked by industrial processing of approximately 40 m of feedstock/kg of catalyst, was submitted to reactivation by applying the conditions of Ex. 1, by maintaining it in a reducing medium which was hydrogen from reforming), the chlorination being effected at a partial pressure of dichloroethane vapors of 30 mm Hg during 4 hours. The last operation, the oxidizing treatment, was effected in two steps, as a consequence of the necessity of burning the coke deposited on the catalyst concomitantly with the oxidation of the reactivated catalyst. The oxidizing treatment was carried TABLE 8 [Content of impurities of the used and reactivated catalyst 13] Impurities, percent by weight out during 15 hours; during the first 8 hours an oxygen diluted with nitrogen was used, such that the oxygen content of the gas was 0.2 percent, and in the last 7 hours the operation was continued by using air. The temperature was maintained at 450 C during the whole oxidation process; the rest of the conditions was the sameas in Example 1 In order to confirm the efficiency of the treatment when applied on the not regenerated catalyst too, the RON and the content of aromatics of the reformed product at two temperature levels, under the experimental conditions shown in Example l, were determined. The obtained data are presented in Table 9.

The process according to the invention offers the following advantages:

the restoration of the halogen content of the catalyst;

the redistribution of the platinum on the catalyst;

the removal of the metallic impurities from the surface of the catalyst;

the increase in activity of the catalysts by raising the ON of the reformed gasoline with from 3 to RON units and the aromatics content with from 5 to 30 percent by vol.,

catalyst;

the prolongation of the useful life of the catalyst, so that after one or 2 years of use, the catalyst may be brought again to a level of activity equal or even superior to that of the fresh catalyst.

The carrying out of the operations according to the invention does not require supplemental investment and does not involve technical difficulties in the execution;

the halogenating treatment involving finally an oxidizing treatment, the excess of halogen is removed before the beginning of the normal experimental cycle and thus corrosion of the plant equipment is avoided;

the preventing of plant corrosion, as a consequence also of the fact that periodic halogenation of the catalyst by introducing the halogen into the feed stock is no longer necessary in the course of the normal operation cycle;

for the operations carried out in a reducing medium, hydrogen rich gases resulting from the reforming plant may be employed;

When this reactivation process is applied to the coked and not regenerated catalyst, a saving of time is achieved, since the application of the described sequence of operations is possible immediately after temrinating the feed of the industrial plants using these catalysts in view of the general revision. From the analysis of the results of activity obtained with catalyst B before and after regeneration (Examples 3 and 4) it is found that comparable results are obtained by applying the reactivation process in both variants.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for reactivating a coked platinum-on-alumina hydrocarbon refomring catalyst to re-establish the halogen content, redistribute the platinum, and reduce the content of metallic impurities, essentially com rising the steps of:

a. maintaining the platinum-onumina catalyst at substantially atmospheric pressure in a gaseous reducing medium consisting essentially of hydrogen with a gaseous flow velocity of substantially 1X10 to 1X10 in per hour per kg of catalyst (STP) at a temperature of substantially 400 to 600 C over a period of substantially 2 to 8 hours and with a moisture content of the gas between substantially l0 and 50 ppm;

b. chlorinating the catalyst treated in step (a) with a chloroalkane containing one to six carbon atoms and having a halogenzhydrogen atomic ratio of at most unity, in a gaseous reducing medium consisting essentially of hydrogen, at substantially atmospheric pressure at a temperature between substantially 400 and 550 C, at a partial pressure of said chloroalkane of substantially l to 100 mg. Hg, and with a gas-flow rate of substantially 1X10 to 4X10" m of gas per hour per kg of the catalyst (STP), and in the presence of a moisture content of substantially 10-50 ppm for a period of one-half to 10 hours and sufficient to raise the halogen content of the catalyst to substantially 0.1 to 1 percent by weight; and treating the catalyst of step (b) with oxygen diluted with an inert gas, the concentration of said oxygen varying in time and increased from an oxygen concentration of 0.2

2. The process defined in claim 1 wherein the gaseous medi-' um used in at least one of ste gas derived from a gasoline is dichloromethane.

ps (a) and (b) is a hydrogen-rich -reformation plant. 3. The process defined in claim 2 wherein said chloroalkane 

2. The process defined in claim 1 wherein the gaseous medium used in at least one of steps (a) and (b) is a hydrogen-rich gas derived from a gasoline-reformation plant.
 3. The process defined in claim 2 wherein said chloroalkane is dichloromethane. 